A public primary school in New York City has stopped giving its students homework.

P.S. 116 Principal Jane Hsu wrote a letter to parents last month, explaining that after more than a year of analyzing (分析) studies, the school had decided that students’ after-school time would be better spent on activities like reading at their own pace (步伐) and playing instead of working on homework.

Hsu’s letter says that many studies show that there is no connection between homework and academic (学业的) success. Some other studies also show that the connection between homework and success is dubious at the primary school level.

Harris Cooper, a social psychologist who researches education, found that doing homework makes students perform better in school as they grew older. In later grades, students who did homework performed increasingly better than students who did not. In 2006, Cooper published a study that analyzed 15 years’ worth of data on the influence of homework. He found that homework had a good influence on students as they aged.

Some parents are not happy with the decision to give up homework. “I think they should have homework. I want my daughter to have fun, but I also want her to be working towards a goal,” Daniel Tasman, the father of a second-grader at the sch ool, said to the reporter.

“Students have to do homework in order to gain. Students have to do homework because they may not be able to understand everything in school,” Sharon Blake, a student’s grandmother told ABC news.

33. The passage is probably from a        .

A. newspaper   B. comedy   C. cartoon   D. novel

34. Jane Hsu wrote a letter to parents to explain        .

A. how students should read at their own pace

B. what activities students could take at home

C. why the school gave up homework recently

D. how important the homework is for students

35. The word “dubious” in Paragraph 3 probably means “not        ”.

A. clear    B. public    C. real    D. special

36. What can we infer (推断) according to the passage?

A. Cooper found homework had a bad influence on students as they aged.

B. Some parents are worried about their children if there is no homework.

C. Some students are not happy with the decision to give up school homework.

D. Daniel Tasman wanted his daughter to have fun instead of working to a goal.

D

A 90-year-old tortoise (乌龟) is going twice its usual speed after being equipped (装备) with a set of wheels. The animal, called Mrs T, was facing a terrible future after losing her two front legs in a mouse attack while she was sleeping in winter, but her owners glued the wheels onto her shell (外壳).

“She’s going double the speed she used to,” said the owner Jude Ryder, “She uses her back legs to push herself along and seems quite happy.”

The 58-year-old owner was surprised when she went to check on her loved pet last month and found her front legs had been eaten in the mouse attack. The local animal doctor tried his best to save Mrs T. But he was afraid that the tortoise would not survive without being mobile. After paying £1,000 for the treatment, Mrs Ryder turned to her son Dale for help. Dale designed the front wheels and used resin (树脂) to add them to the front of the shell. Mrs Ryder said: “She liked them immediately, but she must learn how to turn and stop. She can get a good speed up, much faster than before. Mrs T is still quite young for a tortoise. She could go on for another 50 years. All she needs is a new set of tyres (轮胎) sometimes.”

When Mrs T was sixty years old, she was bought as a pet for Dale, an 8-year-old boy. It liked running happily in Mrs Ryder’s garden in spring and summer. When winter came, Mrs T slept in the garden shelter. A mouse got in last month and chewed (咬) off both her front legs. Mrs Ryder said: “We were afraid she would be sure to die, but her new set of wheels have saved her life. She can run in the garden again and we can always find her because she leaves very strange footprints behind wherever she goes.”

Mice attacking tortoises is not uncommon around us—in 2013 Britain’s oldest tortoise died after a mouse attack. The tortoise called Thomas was 130 when he was bitten at his home in Guernsey. He spent five days on strong antibiotics (抗生素), but the wound became so infected (被感染的) that his owner had no choice but to have him put to sleep.

37. After being equipped with a set of wheels, Mrs T can move by using        .

A. her back legs to push herself    B. her front legs to pull herself

C. her back wheels to pull herself     D. her front wheels to push herself

38. According to the passage, Mrs Ryder’s son is about        .

A. 8 years old      B. 28 years old     C. 38 years old     D. 58 years old

39. Which of the following shows the right order of the story?

a.  A mouse chewed off Mrs T’s two front legs.

b. Mrs T’s owners glued the wheels onto her shell.

c. Mrs T learned how to turn and stop with equipped wheels.

d. The local animal doctor tried his best to treat Mrs T.

e. Mrs T was bought as a pet for Dale when she was sixty.

A. e-a-b-c-d   B. a-b-c-d-e   C. a-e-b-c-d   D. e-a-d-b-c

40. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Mrs Ryder is able to move much faster than before.

B. Tortoises attacking mice is not uncommon around us.

C. The animal doctor added the fron t wheels to the shell.

D. Mrs T can go faster after being equipped with wheels.

非选择题 (共50分)

四、填空(共15小题;每小题1分，满分15分)

A) 根据括号中所给的汉语写出单词，使句子意思完整正确，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为41—45的相应位置上。

41. Bill is too fat. He plans to eat less    ▲    (肉) to keep fit.

42. We need a confident    ▲    (领导者) to help us deal with these difficulties.

43. We    ▲    (举行) a charity show and raised some money for poor families yesterday.

44. Our English teacher enjoys travelling. She    ▲    (很少) stays at home during holidays.

45. Wild animals aren’t    ▲    (自由的) because they may become dishes on the table any time.

B) 根据句子意思，用括号中所给单词的适当形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为46—50的相应位置上。

46. All of us were satisfied with this    ▲    (sing) songs at the concert.

47. It was    ▲    (possible) for anyone to get in because the door was locked.

48. My classmates helped a little girl find her parents on a    ▲    (rain) day.

49. World No. 1 Ma Long from China won his    ▲    (one) men’s singles world table tennis championship.

50. I would rather stay at home than    ▲    (play) football with my classmates because it is too hot outside.

C) 根据对话内容，从下面方框中选择适当的单词或短语填空，使对话内容完整正确，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为51—55的相应位置上。

A: I will have an important exam tomorrow. Can you give me some advice?

B: Yes,   51  . How do you feel now?

A: Not well.

B: Are you feeling nervous?

A: Yes. I feel stressed.

B: Perhaps you should try this white T-shirt. And white can make you feel calm.

A: What do you think of my blue jeans?

B: OK. Wearing  blue jeans can make people feel   52   peaceful.

A: What about shoes?

B: A pair of trainers can make you   53  .

A: Anything else?

B: You’d better take your yellow bag. You know yellow   54   wisdom.

A: Yes. That’s right. Thanks.

B: Wish you   55

A: Thank you for offering me advice.

B: It’s my pleasure.

五、阅读填空(共20小题;每小题1分，满分20分)

A) 阅读下面短文，根据所读内容，在文章后56-65小题的空格里填入一个最恰当的单

词，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为56—65的相应位置上。

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

As teenagers, changing the world does not only mean finding a cure for cancer, or finding the origin of humanity, but recycling a piece of paper as well. Going Green is a practical way that teenagers can have a real and meaningful influence in the world. What follows are three simple ways teenagers can go green and change the world.

Recycle

According to a Wire & Twine online article, 63 million newspapers go out to street vendors (摊贩), local paper boys, or newspaper dispensers every day and of those 44 million are thrown away. Recycling the Sunday newspapers alone we could save half a million trees a week. The age of technology creates new phones, iPods, or new computers. Many people will stand in line for hours to get their hands on the new piece of technology, but what happens with the old ones? Nothing. According to Earth911, about 75% of the old devices (设备) are thrown in the back of a drawer collecting dust.

Go vegetarian (素食主义) one day a week

Here are some amazing facts on going vegetarian for only one day. According to Noam Mohr, a physicist at the New York University, the United States would save 100 billion gallons of water which is enough to offer all homes in New England for about 4 months. The Environmental Defense concludes with the most interesting fact: if the whole population gives up one meal of chicken, the amount of carbon dioxide accumulated (累积的) would be the same amount if more than half a million cars were taken off U.S. roads. So giving up just one day of eating meat is worth the advantages it could bring.

Don’t drink too much bottled water

There is a common idea that bottled water is healthier than regular tap water. However, 25% of bottled water comes from regular tap water which goes through a filter (过滤). Bottled water companies do not need to list where they got the water from, how they clean the water, or what chemicals their plastic water bottles have. Plastic bottles do not get recycled 90% of the time which results in 1.5 million tons of plastic in landfills which are not easy to decompose (分解). In fact, after considering that bottled water and tap water have few differences, people should use more reusable water bottles.”

Just keep in mind what Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed (坚定的) citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Topic How teenagers can go green

Definition Going green is a practical way which teenagers can make a   56   to the world. It is really meaningful.

57  to go green Recycle  Unluckily, only about   58   million newspapers are really in use every day.

 People usually   59   most of the old devices in the back of a drawer



Go vegetarian   All homes in New England use about 100 billion gallons of water in four   60  .

 The Environmental Defense concludes tha t it should be worthy for people to   61   eating meat just one day a week.

Drink   62      bottled water  Most of plastic bottles do not get recycled and it produces millions of tons of plastic which are   63    to decompose.

 In fact, it’s better for people to   64   more reusable water bottles.

Conclusion Just   65   the words said by Margaret Mead that thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world.

B) 根据短文内容及首字母提示，填写所缺单词，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为66—75的相应位置上。

Imagine the scene: You come home after work feeling too tired to cook—only to find a delicious m  66   waiting for you.

It sounds like a dream. However, it could be about to come true thanks to a robot cook

i  67   by British scientists. They have come up with a set of robotic arms which are able to cook nice food. Perhaps people can b  68   the device in 2017 as a part of high-tech kitchen. Since it seems to be so useful in the future, scientists spent a  69   18 years developing the hands, which are each controlled by 24 motors, 26 micro-controllers and 129 sensors (感应器).

Some people prefer to go to well-known restaurants, b  70   they are not cheap and may be quite far from the home. It is a chance for people to enjoy very good food cooked by robots at a suitable p  71  . The only dish that is off the robot’s menu at the moment is sushi, which

r  72   nimble (灵活的) fingers to make, but the team plan to solve this problem as well by the time it goes to  the m  73  .

Users will be able to ‘order’ dinner on their way home, or breakfast for next morning when they w  74   up. They can use an app on their smartphone. Picking menus depends on the ingredients (配料) they have. They will also be able to c  75   dishes based on personal needs.

And just in case, the unit has emergency equipment if there’s a fire.

六、书面表达(满分15分)

孟子曰：“不以规 矩，不成方圆”。家规体现着家人的价值追求和传承，也是社会风气、公民道德的源头。请根据下面表格内容的提示, 以“My family rules”为题，写一篇短文。

My family rules

The importance behave prope rly

be good for our growth (成长)

What rules be honest and polite

do some housework

…

Influence on me …

注意：

1. 文中不得出现你的真实姓名和学校名称;

2. 语言通顺，意思连贯，条理清楚，书写规范;

3. 词数80左右，文章的开头已经给出，不计入总词数。

My family rules

Most families have some rules for children to follow.

精品学习网为大家推荐的九年级下册英语期末测试题，还满意吗?相信大家都会仔细阅读，考出一个满意的成绩，加油哦!

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